


Special

by pencilguin



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Nonbinary Character, chosen family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28455369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pencilguin/pseuds/pencilguin
Summary: [spoilers for 3x04]Adira fidgets with the box in their hands, rethinking their decision for about the five-hundredth time.‘It’ll be fine,’ Gray says over their shoulder with a clearly audible smile. ‘They’ll be delighted. Don’t worry.’Adira takes another deep breath that trembles against the walls of their lungs, while still feeling the presence of the symbiont, comforting and steady. They press the door chime and wait with bated breath.
Relationships: Adira Tal & Hugh Culber, Adira Tal & Hugh Culber & Paul Stamets, Adira Tal & Paul Stamets, Adira Tal/Gray Tal, Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets
Comments: 14
Kudos: 132





	Special

**Author's Note:**

> My annual New Year's fic, although I guess it's a little stealthier this year. 
> 
> This is unbeta'd, so I apologize for any mistakes.

Adira fidgets with the box in their hands, rethinking their decision for about the five-hundredth time.

 _‘It’ll be fine,’_ Gray says over their shoulder with a clearly audible smile. _‘They’ll be delighted. Don’t worry.’_

Adira takes another deep breath that trembles against the walls of their lungs, while still feeling the presence of the symbiont, comforting and steady. They press the door chime and wait with bated breath.

Hugh opens the door. After the fraction of a second of surprise, a smile blossoms on his face, radiant as always and filling Adira’s heart with warmth.

“Adira? Lovely to see you.”

They can feel their cheeks flush from nerves, and with a hint of an involuntary stammer they say, “Uhm. Hi. Sorry, I… I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Not at all. Come in.” Smiling, Hugh steps aside to let them enter, which they do, their fingers wrapped tightly around the box and still shaking.

 _‘Don’t forget to breathe,’_ Gray playfully remarks. They shoot him an admonishing glare, brief enough that Hugh hopefully didn’t notice. But they also exhale, and breathe in again. The door closes.

Paul is sitting in one of the chairs at the larger table, looking up from a PADD he’s been reading. “Hey, Adira!” He smiles. “I was going to invite you to have dinner with us, but it looks like you beat me to it.”

“Oh — well, I, um…”

They notice themself fidgeting again and try to still their fingers. Hugh gestures towards the sofa, and Adira gingerly sits down, trying to take up as little space as possible. Hugh takes a seat next to them, spreading one arm over the backrest.

“I have something. For you. Both, I mean. Uhm.” They blurt out the words, then stop again to calm down and try again. “It’s… it’s a gift… I, um, I made it.”

Paul has risen from his chair and walked over to the sofa, and Adira holds out the box in the direction of the space between him and Hugh in an awkward offering. Their eyes are fixed on the lid of the box, cheeks glowing.

“For us?” Paul asks, surprised.

Hugh seeks Adira’s eyes with a curious smile. “Thank you.” He takes the box from them and places it on his lap while Paul sits down on his other side.

“It’s… Today’s the anniversary,” Adira explains. “Of the day I first met you two.”

Both men look at them with near identical expressions of surprise or a kind of wonder, before it melts into something… soft. Fond. Adira’s lips curl into a little smile all of their own volition before they cast their eyes down to their own lap again. With their hands now free and with no more box to cling to, they pull one leg up onto the sofa, leaving the sole of their boot just hanging over the edge of the seat, and start absently picking at a superficial cut on their left thumb.

Before the silence can start to turn awkward, they mutter. “You can open it.”

Hugh chuckles quietly. “Okay.” Then he opens the box.

 _“Are you sure it’s okay if I do this?”_ Adira remembers asking Gray. _“I’ve… The only other person I ever made one for is you. I hope you’re not mad?”_

 _‘Why would I be mad?’_ Gray asked with his uniquely beautiful, soft laugh.

_“I-I don’t know. Because it was something so special, that I made only for you.”_

_‘It’s still special. And they’re special to you as well.’_

_“So you don’t think it… I don’t know, it takes away from… us? From what we have?”_

Gray smiled at them, positively beaming. Even the memory of it now tugs at their heart for how much they adore him. _‘Why would it do that, silly?’_ He took their hands in his, the ghost of a touch that their memory had to fill in. _‘What we have is unique. It always will be. And the things you create are beautiful. Don’t feel like you can never make them again just because you can’t make them for me.’_

Adira smiled, feeling their body relax with the relief. _“Do you ever get tired of always being right?”_

 _‘Nope,’_ Gray responded, making them both laugh.

“This is… beautiful. Wow,” Hugh says as he takes the quilted blanket out of the box and starts to unfold it, revealing all the different, unique patches that form the whole. Paul takes one end of it in his hand to look more closely at the details.

“It really is,” he remarks. “I didn’t know you’re an artist, Adira.”

“Yup, that’s me. Um…” Their shy yet proud smile fades a little, reigned in again by self-consciousness. “It’s… None of the other hosts were crafty people, really, so… Well, I’ve only been doing it for a few years now,” they explain. “So it’s… not as refined, yet.”

Hugh smiles brilliantly at them. “So this is all you.”

Finally, they break into a smile again as well. “Yeah.”

“Wait. Is this why you’ve had all these cuts and pricks and sore fingertips for weeks?” Hugh asks them.

Adira blushes again. “I’m… still learning.”

“Oh, I recognize this,” Paul says and points at one of the squares. “Is that the Jeffries Tube I caught you in?”

They blush. “Yeah, it is…”

“And this one, too.” Hugh points at another one.

“Yes, that’s from my favorite opera that I showed you.” They watch silently as the two of them point out more of the moments captured on the blanket. That warm feeling settles in Adira’s chest again, something that’s become so familiar lately. They explain, “It’s an ancient Earth tradition. Telling stories through embroidery. I’ve always been fascinated by it. I only made a whole quilt before once, for Gray. It… it takes a lot of time, but it’s also meditative.” They hesitate before adding quietly, “It was made with great care.”

Their eyes fall down into their lap again, but they can feel both pairs of eyes on them.

“Thank you, Adira,” Paul says softly, and they look up. He gets up from the sofa, carefully putting down the quilt, and extends his arms. “Come here.”

Adira’s eyes go wide for a second. It’s not that they’ve never hugged before, but still this feels special. They let themself be gathered into Paul’s arms and then Hugh’s as well, encircled by the warmth of them both. It’s calming like few things in their life have ever been.

_‘See?’_

They peel an eye open and glance over their shoulder. Gray’s there, of course. He leans against Adira’s back and embraces them too, and the feeling of being blanketed by his warmth is as real as that of Hugh and Paul. They close their eyes again and breathe, more calm and centered than they remember ever feeling since the day that Gray died.

_This must be what it feels like to have a family._

It’s a long group hug that nobody seems in a hurry to end. When they eventually do, Hugh says brightly, “You’re going to stay for dinner, right? Paul said he wants to cook for us.”

“Um, sure. Thank you!” They seek Paul’s face. “I could help? I haven’t tried in a while, but maybe I can cook some other things besides hasperat.”

“Sure, I’d love that,” Paul responds cheerfully.

Hugh laughs. “I’ll stick with the menial tasks like chopping ingredients as usual then, and let you two kitchen maestros do your magic.”

“Don’t be like that,” Paul replies. “You’re _great_ at chopping things.”

“What can I say?” Hugh chuckles again. “The hands of a surgeon.”

Adira watches their light banter fondly. _I hope there’ll never be a year without them again._

Gray playfully nudges their side, and then, with a wordless smile, interlaces his fingers with Adira’s.

**Author's Note:**

> Extra special shoutout and lots of love to my lovely friends on Discord. As always, this is for you. Thank you for making this year tolerable. <3


End file.
